Do you know where to find the most beautiful sunset in Istanbul? On the Beşiktaş-Kadıköy ferry. Hop on the ferry around sunset (either direction works) and enjoy the sun setting behind Istanbul’s historic peninsula. The silhouette of the historic peninsula at sunset offers a magnificent view, instantly transporting you back in time. This is the very silhouette of Istanbul that Pierre Loti praised in his 1879 novel Aziyadé.
Here are a few photos I took while crossing the Bosphorus on a ferry (vapur) from Beşiktaş to Kadıköy one January evening. Istanbul’s ferries, locally called vapur, travel between two continents, Asia and Europe.
The word vapur comes from the French “Bateau à vapeur”, sometimes simply referred to as “vapeur”, which means steamboat in English (vapeur means steam).
Sunset in Istanbul and the Historic Peninsula, the annotated version
Here’s the annotated version of the photo above, showing important buildings.
Sources
- Bateau à vapeur on Wikipedia
- Simit on Wikipedia
